Weren't expecting me to finish the chapter this early, eh? Heh, something for you folks to read.

Chapter 12 (First Half! Yay!)

It was quite entertaining, really; they had all of this military power, enough to crush a thousand worlds, yet the citizens of this worthless world called 'Mobius' could still ignore their world crumbling beneath them. It seemed to be a characteristic of intelligent life, they'd been slowly destroying their environment for years, but only now was there an active, DELIBERATE force behind the devastation. Every passing second more and more of the planet's vital energy was being siphoned off, harvested to create 'the' weapon.

Most people would deny that a planet had any sort of life force or energy, but it was true in so many ways; not just in the hazy spiritual sense of gaia theory, but in its resources and systems. In that sense they were nothing but parasites, especially the rabbits, always expanding, spreading like a virus, digging up in a decade what took a millenia to put down. And now it was his turn, the weapon demanded huge quantities of iron and aluminum, and almost the entire planet's supply of platinum and vanadium. But it also fed on something else, an energy that was hard to find and quantify.

There would be no more grass and trees, just a desolate wasteland, the corpses of citizens and soldiers alike scattered about, some still in their formations, as if honoring some mad general. The soil would dry up and blow away, the parched ground making blood evaporate before it even touched the wasted earth. But the cities would rise, towers of black and grey and green standing proudly against the skyline amongst the ruins of the buildings that they had fed upon. Soon this vision would come to pass, after the last remaining impediment to progress was removed.

"Sir! The recon unit we sent out...all forms of communication have been lost!"

Kain clenched his fists in annoyance. OF COURSE the unit had been destroyed; they were poking their noses into things that didn't concern them! Fools! Why couldn't people just do what they were told? Things would be that much easier if everyone just did what he said! There was to be no presence or interference there until the plan unfolded.

"...I..." he started, putting much effort into masking his anger. "...want you to call off all units from that area, Commander. I have recently received reports that the area may have been hit by a dirty bomb, and the last thing we need are more soldiers suffering a terrible death. I trust you have no objections?"

"None sir. Understood sir."

Such idiocy...bloody hell, could they all really be so foolish? Of course some had seen through his plans, but so very, very few! They were willing to sacrifice their lives to hasten their own deaths, like lambs to the slaughter. Things were going almost too well; the pieces of the puzzle were falling into place far quicker than allowed for. That recon unit must've stumbled across what they'd been seeking to continue with the final phase of the plan.

Kain stared out at the ruined landscape, clouds of dust staining the air a fiery red as the sun set in the east, casting its somehow malignant glare over a face that burned with an equally hot glare. Kain had often wondered just how he felt about this place, this world, everything. Hate was too good for it, you hated equals. Contempt. Yes, that was the word, pure burning contempt for the miserable little vermin that infested this place, crawling about like ants, oblivious to anything outside of their tiny, pitiful enclosed lives. Their arrogance, the enjoyable lifes they lived, while they wandered about arguing about this and that, opinions and beliefs as if their lives were of more importance than a dust mote in the wind.

But he did hate. Oh yes, there were things to hate here. Because of this insane world...he'd lost powerful allies...not to mention...

A metallic gleam shone underneath where his right arm was, pulling away a small portion of the robe that covered the limb revealed a small portion of a barrel of a weapon, before he covered it once more. He smiled, a grin without mirth. He would never forget, he would never stop, he would never be satisfied. All he'd had to endure, the pain, the terrible struggle, it had almost driven him mad. Perhaps it had. No matter, all that was important was the sheer burning desire that fueled him even now...simply to obtain what he wanted.



* * *

-Elsewhere...-

"Hmmn. It seems that all the players have begun their little moves. Dancing with each other over the checkerboard of existence. Of course, all that effort, totally meaningless, a waste in pointless combat. Best for now to watch them all play their parts, it will be time for action soon enough."

The observer sat amidst streams of darkness as thick as coal tar, as noxious as factory smoke as the boiled around, twisting in and out of reality. Reams of data scrolled past, split, were analyzed and displayed. Banks upon banks of monitors shone faintly with a blue light as test scrolled across them, images flickered and calculations were performed. They showed the Beacon bursting into flames, fragments of the once proud ship falling through the sky like burning rain, falling slowly for an eternity, other ships fleeing pursuit and a war across planets as Devan led his new army across the cosmos. Devan, ah, if only they knew.

By all rights the presence of so many computers, so much energy and calculation should have heated the air to a stifling degree, but it was cool here, always cool; with the computers the room was merely freezing, without them it would be an icebox. The watcher was surrounded by the darkness. It was old, not like an octogenarian is old, but like a mountain is old. It was cold, not like ice was cold, but like how a computerized eviction notice was cold. And it was deadly. Not like a bullet or knife was deadly, but like how a brick wall across a motorway was deadly.

It would not be long now, not that time mattered. They would all annihilate themselves working for their own petty little motives. None of them had any idea, and what matter if they did? All opposition could easily be taken care of after all, was not all the true power here? Who could stand against them now? The future would be FUN. Not that it mattered. He despised everything about this dimension, but not just that...SOMEONE had constantly failed thier task and it was evident that he'd have to pick up the slack where his companion faltered.

The watcher turned, and spoke with all the emotion of a lead slab.

"Hah...Completely unaware of what the 'Hero' is getting himself into. Perhaps he'll live long enough to see the truth; that might be enough to break him. His mind, heart and soul. And YOU'LL be that essential part, my sister. Won't you be happy to see him again?"

"...Yes..."